Swarm have a month to find a new owner or investor to play next season

By Zach Davis, Laredo Morning Times
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May 28, 2017

Photo: Cuate Santos /Laredo Morning Times File

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The Swarm have until the end of June to find a new owner or investor to run the team’s day-to-day operations after Laredo co-owner Marlon Minifee took a position with the American Basketball Association.The Swarm have until the end of June to find a new owner or investor to run the team’s day-to-day operations after Laredo co-owner Marlon Minifee took a position with the American Basketball Association. Anthony Alston, pictured, and the Swarm finished as the No. 22-ranked team in the country last year.

Photo: Laredo Morning Times Staff File

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Swarm co-owner Marlon Minifee said in a statement Thursday that the team would not be playing in the 2017-18 ABA season.

Photo: Danny Zaragoza /Laredo Morning Times File

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Kevin Jefferson is one of six players with local ties that have suited up for the Swarm over the past 2 1/2 years and one of three to come to the team from Texas A&M International.

After the Laredo Lemurs closed down operations a few weeks ago, Laredo had only one professional sports team remaining in the city. By this time next month, however, it may be without one altogether.

The Laredo Swarm have until the end of June to either find new ownership or another investor that can run the franchise’s day-to-day operations during the season. Co-owner Marlon Minifee — a sports agent who filled that role the past two years — took a job with the American Basketball Association involved in expanding the league in different countries. He will not have the time to run the team any longer, meaning the franchise needs to find a solution quickly to keep the team going.

"There’s a little uncertainty whether the Swarm will return to play next year or not. We are trying to figure that out," Minifee said. "With us, we would love to have the team back next year. That’s my main objective, to keep the team in Laredo regardless of whether there’s new ownership or not.

"We’d like to keep the team here. We’d love for someone or a group to step up. They can contact us at LaredoSwarm@Gmail.com. We can set up a meeting with anyone that’s interested or answer any questions."

Minifee is the co-owner of the franchise with LeMoure Stephens, and the latter is based in San Antonio where he works full time. While Minifee’s new role with the ABA will keep him from performing his daily duties with the Swarm, he said he would still be willing to use his connections for whatever new owner or investor that came in to bring the city a competitive squad.

"As an agent, I work with a lot of the D-League, scouts and NBA coaches," Minifee said. "I’ll help with players and whatever they need help with, and so will the commissioner and the ABA. My job is for the league to get the support they need. Laredo is one of the gems of the ABA as far as opportunity and talent level. We are one of the few teams that in our first two years had 10 guys go to play professional."

Minifee isn’t the only one who is hoping the team sticks around for its third full season. The Laredo Energy Arena staff is also waiting to see whether or not it will have a basketball team for the 2017-18 campaign that the city can enjoy.

"We are hoping somebody does step up in the community and gains some ownership here," LEA general manager Xavier Villalon said. "Marlon kind of explained the venture isn’t as heavy as going into other sport types. It seems somewhat on the lower end, but it’s a challenge."

Villalon also felt that the arena is hoping for a business or a group of people to step in to run the show. Minifee was only one person, and that organizational makeup has had its challenges over the past few years.

"It’s difficult for Marlon because he’s a one-man show," Villalon said. "Everyone is trying to help him including my staff, but that normally isn’t the right formula. He’s looking for someone to come in with a business structure and a team to put behind it."

Minifee’s goal was always to win a championship for Laredo, something he was unable to do since moving the team to the city before the 2014-15 conference tournament. The franchise came the closest in 2015-16 being ranked No. 1 heading to the postseason with an 18-1 record. But the Swarm were upset in the first round of the playoffs at home by the DMV Warriors, a team that went on to lose in the ABA championship game to Jacksonville.

In 2016-17, Laredo had a much younger squad and lost some key players to professional teams. They finished the campaign 14-6, were ranked No. 22 in the country and even were the only team in the league to defeat No. 4 Austin (15-1) during the regular season. But the Swarm had a sour end to the year just missing out on the playoffs.

"We’d love to get to the Final Eight again for the opportunity to bring a championship to the city of Laredo," Minifee said. "Especially with no more Lemurs and no more professional sports. It would kind of suck to see both kind of disappear at the same time. For people that really love sports, you are going to have to drive 2 ½ hours and spend a lot more money to go to a Spurs game."

While Laredo’s team clearly isn’t at the same talent level of a team like the Spurs, the group is still capable of putting together good basketball at an affordable price. The Swarm sold $50 season tickets for 15 home games ($3.33 per game) and had single-game tickets throughout the season for as low as $5. Whether they will be available next year for local fans, however, is dependent on finding some outside help.

"I still think what we have right now is good quality basketball," Villalon said. "It reminds me of basketball in the ‘90s — more rough and physical than the current NBA. I enjoy seeing that stuff. If we could find somebody that can step up and help on Marlon’s side then I think we could sit down and see how we can move forward.

"It is a good family-oriented team. The owner has told me that it’s not a major investment. So if we could find a big company in town that wants to put some people on this and back it up somewhat financially, I think the community could see the benefit of that."

Follow @ZachDavisLMT on Twitter for the latest news on the Swarm and other local sports.